Aliases
by VooDoo Lily
Summary: Set during TPM. Padme and Obi Wan have a conversation about the power of names... Reviews are encouraged, but no flames, please.


Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine.

Padmé was still cleaning R2-D2 when she suddenly felt the urge for a snack. "It must be because Jar Jar mentioned eating…" she muttered to herself, remembering her earlier conversation with the Gungan, who had described having a "brisky morning munching" before finding himself with the Jedi and the Naboo on the Queen's starship. Deciding to take a break from her task, Padmé was on the point of rising from her kneeling position by R2 when a saucer was placed in front of her eyes. The saucer held a cup of tea and some cookies on it, which made Padmé smile. She looked up at the person holding the saucer and was surprised to find it was the Padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"I hope you didn't read my mind because I was just thinking of getting something to eat," she said, only half-joking when she spoke. She didn't know much about the younger Jedi, but his serious demeanor did not make her feel very comfortable, and when Obi-Wan frowned slightly at her words, Padmé didn't feel any better.

"I didn't read your mind," he told her. "Jedi don't do that. I just thought that you might need a break from your work."

"Oh," she said in a small voice, then added more loudly, "Well, thank you for bringing me something. It's very considerate of you... Obi-Wan," she said, hoping he would relax if she addressed him informally.

To her relief and pleasure, Kenobi's face seemed to lighten at her kind words. "You're welcome, handmaiden."

She rose to her feet but immediately grew woozy as, after kneeling for so long, the blood rushed from her head to her legs. Obi-Wan put his free hand on her shoulder to steady her until she was able to remain upright on her own. Silently acknowledging his help with a grateful smile, she took the cup and saucer from him and decided to continue their conversation. "You should call me Padmé. Not even Her Highness calls me 'handmaiden,' and I work for her."

Instead of smiling at her light remark, Obi-Wan only looked at her strangely. "Is that your real name?"

She felt a flutter of nervousness at the way he was looking at her as he spoke, and for a brief moment, she wondered if he knew her actual identity. Deciding to keep up the charade of only being a handmaiden, she answered him indignantly, "Of course it is."

The young man seemed to believe he had offended her and hurried to explain. "Perhaps you have never heard of this, but there is a belief that if someone knows your real name, they then have a power over you."

She nodded slowly. She had learned of such a belief while studying different cultures in the galaxy as Queen, but she had never really believed it herself. Choosing her next words carefully, she said to Kenobi, "The Queen once mentioned something like that to me, but I never took it seriously."

"Ah, Queen Amidala. She's a good example."

Padmé felt her heart skip a beat. "A good example of what?"

"Well, of the importance of hiding your true name. I doubt that Amidala is her real name, not when her handmaidens all have such similar names as yours and she does not."

Padmé was starting to get more and more uneasy as their conversation progressed, but she continued to pretend nothing was wrong. Besides, she knew that the purpose of having a public name for the ruler of Naboo was to help keep the use of a decoy a secret. At least, that was what she had been told when she had ascended the throne, but she also knew that the practice of adopting a name for the royal persona had already been in place for thousands of years. Who knew if that practice had not grown out of some ancient superstition about the power of names? Starting to feel doubtful, she admitted to Obi-Wan, "You're right about 'Amidala' only being a name the Queen uses in public."

"You see? It is an alias, one she uses to keep her enemies from having power over her." Obi-Wan paused to let his words sink in before saying, "So you understand why I should not really call you by your name."

"I suppose so, but if you're so concerned about names, then why did you allow me to call you 'Obi-Wan' earlier?"

The Padawan smiled. "I never said 'Obi-Wan' was my real name."

Padmé opened her mouth to object, but then closed it as she realized that he was right.

Obi-Wan's smile became a grin as he gave her a short bow before turning to leave the room. "Enjoy your snack, handmaiden," he called behind him as he left the room for another part of the ship.

Left alone with her cup of tea and plate of cookies, Padmé shook her head ruefully at Obi-Wan's farewell. Their conversation had made her curious about what his real name was, but she had no idea how she could get him to share it with her. Before she could think more on the problem, however, her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything for some time. She picked up a cookie from her saucer and bit into it thoughtfully. If Kenobi was ever assigned to protect her again, she decided, she would find out what his real name was somehow.

She finished her cookie and picked up her cup to take a sip of tea. As she was about to place her cup back on the saucer, she saw a small piece of paper with some writing on it on the spot where her cup had been. She realized it was a note and that it must have been lying underneath the cup the whole time. Bringing the saucer closer to her eyes, she read the writing on the paper with interest. Her curiosity soon turned to surprise, but by the time she finished the note, she was smiling. She quickly finished the rest of her tea and cookies, picked up the note from the saucer, and then turned to R2-D2.

"R2," she announced, "I need you to destroy this for me." She hesitated, wondering if astromechs could read Basic. Deciding to take no chances, she added, "And don't tell anyone what it says." R2 whistled in answer and then a metal "arm" with a mechanical claw at its end appeared from the astromech droid's cylindrical body and took the note from her. Holding the paper in its claw, the droid fired a small laser beam at it that instantly vaporized the paper into nothingness. Padmé hadn't known for sure, but if R2 really _had _been able to read Basic, he would have seen that the note read, _If you keep my secret, I'll keep yours, Your Highness. Ben Kenobi._


End file.
